Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Mark i. 11 Our Gospel today consists of the first 11 verses of the St. Mark. You might say St. Mark wrote the Cliff notes version of the Bible. His was the shortest and most succinct. The beginning of each Gospel is important as it sets the framework for the rest of the story. St. Mark started his Gospel with the Baptism of Christ by John the Baptist. St. Matthew quickly notes the birth of Christ, the persecution of the children by Herod, and then jumps directly to the preaching of John the Baptist. St. John states our theological beliefs about God and Christ in the first 14 verses. Immediately after, still in the first chapter, he describes the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist. Three of our four Gospels place the ministry of John the Baptist at the beginning of their story. The fourth Gospel Luke starts earlier than the other three. Luke starts with the description of Zacharias and Elisabeth, John s parents. You will recall that both were well stricken in years and it took God s intervention to give them a son. Six months later, the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary to predict the birth of Christ. Obviously, all the writers of the Gospels felt John the Baptist was absolutely vital to starting to understand the life and passion of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. What was so special about John the Baptist? Yes, he was sent to prepare the way for Christ. His was the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. He baptized people in the river Jordan after they confessed their sins. Some thought he was the Messiah for whom they all waited. He was clear in his response. He was not worthy to stoop down and unloose the shoes of Epipany2fwb20170115.doc 12/29/16 Page 1
the one who was to come. And yet, he was worthy of the recognition of all the Gospel writers. What was so special about him? He did have a few followers, but certainly had no significant effect on the culture of the day. You might think he was simply an introduction for the story to come. He did not live long after baptizing Jesus. He had no real impact on the story of Jesus ministry and passion. We actually know little about him other than he fulfilled the prediction of the prophet Isaiah and the angel Gabriel. We don t even know what the Jewish leaders thought of him. John was the messenger to precede the Messiah. If John was the messenger, what was the message? We know that John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. Beyond that, we know little about what John actually preached. Sts. Mark and John acknowledge his statement about being The voice of one crying in the wilderness. Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. They also mention John s response to questions about who he was. There cometh one mightier than I after me, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose. St. Matthew, like St. Luke gives a little more detail. They give quotes that describe the wrath of God and the need for repentance. They both quote his challenge, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Only St. Luke tells us what else was contained in John s sermons. When the people were repentant, they asked, What shall we do then? He said, those who have two coats, share them with those who have none and those who have meat, do Epipany2fwb20170115.doc 12/29/16 Page 2
likewise. He told the publicans not to take more than they were appointed to receive. He told the soldiers to do violence to no man, accuse no one falsely and take no bribes. These are things we expect to hear from Jesus. They are paraphrases of Jesus words, yet to come. Still, only St. Luke, in his desire to be as complete as possible even mentions these quotes of John. John the Baptist has a prominent place in the beginning of all four Gospels. It is obvious that his story is placed there to deliver a message on which all four Gospels agree. The only thing all four have in common, besides announcing the coming of Christ, is that John preached repentance for the remission of sins. Can John s message be that simple and yet important enough to warrant inclusion in all the Gospels? The message is indeed simple but it starts the thread that runs throughout the New Testament. This is the first time we hear, we are all sinners. It is the first time we are told that repentance, and the grace of God, is the only escape from our sins. That was a very unpopular message in John s time and he was be-headed for his persistence. That message is no more popular today than it was then. We daily see examples of people who rather than repent their sins, seem to take pride in them. The survivor shows on television glorify the ability to impose one person s will over others at any cost whatsoever. You must conclude that they consider their ability to commit sin an accomplishment. That sounds insane to this congregation, but let s take a look at the world from their point of view. Their view of the world ignores the existence of God, as we know him. Their view of the world holds satisfaction of their desires as the pinnacle of success. Many of them acknowledge there is a God, but they deny any Epipany2fwb20170115.doc 12/29/16 Page 3
need to defer their desires to His Will. They deny any order or purpose in the world he created, except that existing in their own mind at the moment. They seem to think that God enjoys their desecration of his creation. Fortunately, the they of whom we speak, are not the only influence in our lives. We have a number of less publicized influences in our lives and they are actually critical to health of our souls. These little things are like the little rudder that steers a big ship in even bigger waters. These little things have a great impact in our lives even if we don t make them apparent to others. Our thoughts today have come a long way from baptism in the Jordan, but I don t think they have moved far from the message that accompanied John s baptism. Individually, we all battle to conquer sin and order our lives in the pattern of Jesus. We are not always so quick to do battle with sin on a broader level. Repenting for our own sins is quite different from declaring to the world that you do not approve of their sinful actions. None of us think it is prudent for us to take our convictions directly to the world like John the Baptist. For one thing we all remember what happened to him. For another, we don t believe that our efforts can be effective because we lack the influence to attract the requisite attention. As the people asked John, What shall we do then? First, we need to think a moment about the concept of sin and what that means in our lives. Sin is separation from God and can take many forms. There are sins of omission, where we have left undone those things we ought to have done. And there are sins of commission where we have done those things we ought not to have done. If our examination of our lives is thorough, we frequently admit, there is no health in us. But we are repentant and Epipany2fwb20170115.doc 12/29/16 Page 4
forgiven our sins. The real question is what can we do to have any effect at all on others who fail to recognize their sins. I will admit, in many countries, there is very little that can be done. Even in this great country with all our freedoms, there are limits on our effectiveness. We must avoid doubting our effectiveness or we will do nothing and thus guarantee we affect no one. Instead, I encourage you to stand up as part of the faithful remnant and cast your vote for the Will of God. I assure you, I have not digressed into politics. I m simply saying, in our culture, the best way to influence those, other than our families, is to vote with our dollars. If you hear about a movie that promotes behavior that contradicts your morals, avoid it. Do not tell the producers that you want more of the same. If you hear about a new television series about a priest and his family, you must judge whether the message is uplifting or desultory. If the message is uplifting, promote it among your friends and family. If not, vote against it by not watching it and consequently not exposing yourself to the commercials sponsoring it. This is not really a new approach for us. Most of us are here, because our expression of the Anglican faith promoted behavior that offended us and we decided not to support their erroneous teachings any longer. They would argue that their teachings are enlightened and not erroneous. Remember, Holy Scriptures define our Christian faith and the New Testament begins and ends with John s message. All the Gospels emphasize John s exhortation to repent ye of your sin. The eighteenth verse of the twenty-second chapter of Revelation says, If any man shall add unto the prophecy of this book, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book. The Epipany2fwb20170115.doc 12/29/16 Page 5
nineteenth verse says, if any man shall take away from the words of this book, God shall take away his part out of the book of life and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book. We start with the call for repentance and we end with the promise of retribution if there is no repentance and request for forgiveness. There is no ambiguity in the guidelines of our Holy Scriptures. As we take to heart, the preaching of John the Baptist, we can take comfort in doing every little thing we can, to prepare the way of the Lord. If we succeed, perhaps someday, we can hear what Jesus heard, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Jesus said unto them, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he send forth labourers into his harvest. (St. Luke, x. 2.) Epipany2fwb20170115.doc 12/29/16 Page 6